


Eyes of An Endless Future

by DrummerDancer



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-04-19
Packaged: 2018-01-20 01:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1491313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrummerDancer/pseuds/DrummerDancer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I suggest you run, Fullmetal Alchemist. A fight against me is a fight you’ll lose.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eyes of An Endless Future

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Eyes of An Endless Future  
> Author: drummerdancer  
> Verse: First Anime  
> Characters/Pairings: Scar, Edward  
> Word Count: 781  
> Prompt 265: Chicken  
> Rating: T  
> Summary: “I suggest you run, Fullmetal Alchemist. A fight against me is a fight you’ll lose.”

_Tick…tick…tick._

Body straight like a bed frame, arms clenched to the sides.

_Tick…tick…tick._

Eyes straight forward, piercing like spears but precise like bullets, stone-still and dry—no fear.

_Tick…tick…tick._

Legs splayed out evenly, hips-width apart, tense like an elastic, ready to spring. The left side is torn up by the hip with blood oozing out through the material. He doesn’t seem to notice.

_Tick…tick…tick._

Silence except for the broken watch between them, split open like an egg, its contents spilled out in the rubble underneath. The second hand skips and skips and skips, like a metronome. Or, more appropriately, like a bomb—counting down, down, _down_ —

“Well, what’s it gonna be, Scar?”

—until the inevitable moment, when you have to decide what you’re going to do. When you have to decide—do I need to kill him, _a child_ , in order to satisfy my own needs for revenge?

Your hand is flexing. The sound of your mother screaming as she’s ripped to pieces (three pieces; head, torso, legs) echoes in the back of your mind.

“I suggest you run, Fullmetal Alchemist. A fight against me is a fight you’ll lose.”

The child _scoffs_ at you, digging one of his heels into the ground as he sports a grin. “The only alchemist strong enough to beat me is _my_ little brother, who you smashed into pieces when we last met in East City. I think it’s high-time I settled that score.”

You want to smack him, tell him that this is no time for a pissing contest, that he needs to run like the child he is because you _will_ kill him, because you have no choice. But you can’t say any of that, because this child is foolish beyond belief, corrupted and brainwashed by a military he can’t even begin to understand. Your warning will fall on deaf ears, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.

You take a step forward, hating for once that you already know the outcome of this fight. It’s one thing to kill a man directly responsible for the slaughter and extermination of your people; it’s entirely different when they’re an naive, ignorant kid, led around on a leash by those same adults like a pet, not understanding one bit the gravity of the situation he’s stepped into.

Foolish child. Maybe he’ll understand once you’ve sent him to his maker.

This child should be scared of you, but instead he claps his hands and charges at you, leaving himself wide-open for your attack. You grab him by his skull, lifting him up by his head as he swings at you from below. He nicks you with his blade, but the trickle of fluid is measly compared to what’s about to happen to him. You frown.

“Foolish child. Why are you not afraid of me?”

“—ain’t no chicken shit, if that’s what you mean—”

A whisper. “That isn’t what I mean.”

The boy is swinging wildly in your grasp now, cutting into your arm as the pressure on his head increases painfully. You dig your fingernails into his skin, causing him to scream as he makes a swipe for your head.

No, you don’t mean he isn’t brave. You’ve heard about the danger he’s faced and know he lives up to his reputation.

No.

He isn’t afraid of _you._

Even now, as you’re seconds away from blowing his brain matter out the back of his head, this child still fights you, not a speck of doubt or terror behind his eyes. His eyes, yes—

Just like your brother’s; kind and honest, eyes that can see into the endless distance, see a future that others can not. Yes, you remember; his eyes haven’t changed, even after all the crimes and sins the men around him have committed. He’s stayed true to whatever goal it is he’s fighting for; you have to respect that.

You lower your arm, just enough for him to touch the ground, before activating your array. It hits him, though not before he’s pulled away.

And it’s just enough; the boy falls at your feet, but no blood pours from his head. He’s been knocked unconscious, and you’re sure there will be an ugly bruise on his forehead come morning. But for now, he’s alive. You step around his body and move to leave.

The broken watch comes underfoot. You pick it up by its fractured casing.

_Don’t forget. 3.Oct.10_

You snap the watch shut and drop it. You don’t know what he’s trying to remember, but for his sake, you hope he doesn’t forget either.

You walk away.


End file.
